Soul Pole: Turning lives

Giving helps turnaround lives in the strangest of ways

She used to be weigh just 38 kilos. She used to be a homeless drug addict and a lap-dancer. Now people regard her as one of Scotland’s brightest entrepreneurs.

We met Sian Ajose in Glasgow at a B1G1 Seminar — she’d driven 3 hours to be there. All we knew at the time was that she ran a successful pole-dance fitness studio called Soul Pole.

She joined B1G1 in a heartbeat and that same night was online giving. And already after just a few short months she’s:
 

• Given 2380 people access to clean water for a day
• Given 64 people in need a nourishing meal
• Given 12 children in need a meal at school
• Given 5 children in need a learning tool
• Given 5 children education support for a day
• Given 4 animals medical care

And just as importantly, she’s even got some of her suppliers to come on board B1G1. They’re giving too. And so Sian’s giving is now leveraged in a great way.

And Sian's business has won two awards for its success in teaching more than 900 women how to increase their stamina and cardiovascular fitness, as well as build core muscle strength - while having lots of fun.

One of her dreams is to open holistic education centres to encourage people to be active and spiritually aware.

And her dreams usually do come true — when we first met she was taking about writing a book — now the book ‘Teenage Kicks’ is about to be launched. And inside every book there’s a B1G1 giving certificate so that when anyone buys the book they automatically sponsor a tree for a year in Tanzania.

And just over Christmas, Sian told me in one of our all too brief mentoring sessions that she’s now aiming to be a speaker — I’ve no doubt she’ll make that too. [Co-incidentally, at the end of the mentoring calls — all part of being a B1G1 Partner — Sian just jumps on line and gives — most recently she helped provide medication for a child for 1 year in Kenya].

But … back to her budding speaking career. Gilda Westermann, the Governor of Toastmaster International Area 43 put it like this: “Sian Ajose is a woman who inspires.  The two speeches I heard from her are carved in my memory and will continue to impact on me. As a speaker she not only informs with great skill, she also captures and she motivates her audience. Sian weaves words filling the room with her passion for live, people and making a positive difference in this world.

It’s an amazing story. But it’s not a story that Sian’s ever told us at B1G1. All we knew was that she was a great giver and a great person to have in B1G1 . But then today, I  Googled her. And I found some amazing stuff from an article on Sian from the leading Scottish newspaper written in May 2011.

Here’s what I discovered: Sian was 16 when she left home after some challenges with her step-father. She and began sleeping rough. And with no home to go to, she would spend the night at parties and began using drugs including speed and acid.

For seven years she slept rough, in squats and on the streets and her health was soon in trouble.

She recalls: "My lowest moment was lying on the ground and just asking to die. I was 21 and just six stone. A friend offered me help but when I got off the streets, I was bedridden. It took me about two years to physically recover."

It took her several attempts to kick drugs but she managed eventually on her own, after going cold turkey. And as her strength returned she decided to turn her life around.

And there’s a beautiful Australian link in the turnaround too. After hearing about the UK Sailing Academy and its training course on the Sunshine Coast of Australia, she applied to enrol but found her efforts blocked by lack of funds. Now a single mother to her son, Jordan, she needed help with the fees.

Sian contacted 200 charities and trusts with no luck but she refused to give up. Then, as she closed the Academy's prospectus one day, she noticed Princess Anne was the patron.

She said: "I wrote to Buckingham Palace to ask her for help. She wrote to the college and told them to give the support I needed. They helped me come up with a career plan and then flew me down to meet Princess Anne.

"My accommodation was paid for in Australia for four months as well as my tuition fees."

But Sian still had to pay for flights, childcare and living costs so she began working as a lap-dancer in Edinburgh.

"I'd heard you make money in these places so I took a deep breath and went for it," she said. She soon saved the money she need and went to Australia for four months. Then, after qualifying as a wind surfing instructor and rescue diver, she returned home to start a business.

But the sports she wanted to teach were too seasonal so, after settling in Aberdeen, she began working for the council as a sports education tutor.

Employment was difficult to find and with Jordan, now 12, to support, Sian decided to start her own business.

"I thought about what I could do," she said. "I can pole dance and I'm a fitness instructor so I put them together and sat up every night writing up my business plans. When I started I ran classes from my living room."

Then when a studio became available she jumped at the chance to secure it for her fledgling business. But with no credit history, it wasn't easy to get start-up costs but Sian was determined and used her savings.

Soul-Pole was born and she’s as proud as punch about it: "People are all doing it because they know Soul-Pole develops self esteem, we're not just a fitness class. If somebody doesn't feel comfortable or is not motivated to keep fit then this is the way to do it because they have so much fun, they don't even realise they're exercising. And it's a whole body workout from head-to-toe."

Sian Ajose’s transforming lives. And now with B1G1, she’s reaching out even further and leveraging her amazing self.

As we said at the start, giving really does turnaround lives in the most amazing of ways. Sian is a wonderful example of it. We’re so thrilled to be seeing it every day at B1G1.